References

Accredited Coaches and Coaching Assistants must provide contact information for 2 character references. The LTA will only contact these people in certain situations.

Who can I use as a character referee?

The best referees are people who have known you in a professional capacity for some time. That means people who have been your manager or supervisor at work. If you have worked alongside a head coach, or if you have been hired by a club chairperson, then they would be good referees.

It is fine to use managers or supervisors from outside tennis as referees.

At least one of your referees should have known you for three years or more, and at least one of your referees should still have contact with you now.

Relations or people who you know mainly as friends are not suitable referees.

Why do you need reference information?

In most cases this information is not used, and we do not contact referees. Sometimes a CRB disclosure, a record of a previous complaint, or another problem means that the LTA has to ask some extra questions before issuing an accreditation. By providing the names of two character referees, you reassure the LTA that we can carry out further background checks if necessary. In almost all cases, the extra information we gather allows us to complete the accreditation process.

What do we do with the information?

We very rarely contact referees without gaining the consent of the Coach or Coaching Assistant involved. We never reveal criminal record information to referees without consent.

Details of referees are stored in a dedicated database and are not used for any other purpose. Your referees will not receive marketing or other information from the LTA. Six months after your accreditation application is complete, we delete these details to ensure that personal information is protected. That's why you have to provide fresh details each time you renew.